Two 4G candidate systems are commercially deployed: the Mobile WiMAX standard (first used in South Korea in 2007), and the first-release Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard (in Oslo, Norway and Stockholm, Sweden since 2009). It has however been debated if these first-release versions should be considered to be 4G or not, as discussed in the technical definition section below.

In the United States, Sprint (previously Clearwire) has deployed Mobile WiMAX networks since 2008, while MetroPCS became the first operator to offer LTE service in 2010. USB wireless modems were among the first devices able to access these networks, with WiMAX smartphones becoming available during 2010, and LTE smartphones arriving in 2011. 3G and 4G equipment made for other continents are not always compatible because of different frequency bands. Mobile WiMAX is not available for the European market as of April 2012.

Since the first-release versions of Mobile WiMAX and LTE support much less than 1 Gbit/s peak bit rate, they are not fully IMT-Advanced compliant, but are often branded 4G by service providers. According to operators, a generation of network refers to the deployment of a new non-backward-compatible technology. On December 6, 2010, ITU-R recognized that these two technologies, as well as other beyond-3G technologies that do not fulfill the IMT-Advanced requirements, could nevertheless be considered "4G", provided they represent forerunners to IMT-Advanced compliant versions and "a substantial level of improvement in performance and capabilities with respect to the initial third generation systems now deployed".[2]

Mobile WiMAX Release 2 (also known as WirelessMAN-Advanced or IEEE 802.16m') and LTE Advanced (LTE-A) are IMT-Advanced compliant backwards compatible versions of the above two systems, standardized during the spring 2011, and promising speeds in the order of 1 Gbit/s. Services were expected in 2013.

Background

The nomenclature of the generations generally refers to a change in the fundamental nature of the service, non-backwards-compatible transmission technology, higher peak bit rates, new frequency bands, wider channel frequency bandwidth in Hertz, and higher capacity for many simultaneous data transfers (higher system spectral efficiency in bit/second/Hertz).

New mobile generations have appeared about every ten years since the first move from 1981 analogue (1G) to digital (2G) transmission in 1992. This was followed, in 2001, by 3G multi-media support, spread spectrum transmission and at least 200 kbit/s peak bit rate, in 2011/2012 to be followed by "real" 4G, which refers to all-Internet Protocol (IP) packet-switched networks giving mobile ultra-broadband (gigabit speed) access.

While the ITU has adopted recommendations for technologies that would be used for future global communications, they do not actually perform the standardization or development work themselves, instead relying on the work of other standard bodies such as IEEE, The WiMAX Forum and 3GPP.

In the mid-1990s, the IMT-2000 requirements as a framework for what standards should be considered 3G systems, requiring 200 kbit/s peak bit rate. In 2008, ITU-R specified the IMT-Advanced (International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced) requirements for 4G systems.

The fastest 3G-based standard in the UMTS family is the HSPA+ standard, which is commercially available since 2009 and offers 28 Mbit/s downstream (22 Mbit/s upstream) without MIMO, i.e. only with one antenna, and in 2011 accelerated up to 42 Mbit/s peak bit rate downstream using either DC-HSPA+ (simultaneous use of two 5 MHz UMTS carriers)[3] or 2x2 MIMO. In theory speeds up to 672 Mbit/s are possible, but have not been deployed yet. The fastest 3G-based standard in the CDMA2000 family is the EV-DO Rev. B, which is available since 2010 and offers 15.67 Mbit/s downstream.

IMT-Advanced requirements

This article refers to 4G using IMT-Advanced (International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced), as defined by ITU-R. An IMT-Advanced cellular system must fulfill the following requirements:[4]

Be based on an all-IP packet switched network.

Have peak data rates of up to approximately 100 Mbit/s for high mobility such as mobile access and up to approximately 1 Gbit/s for low mobility such as nomadic/local wireless access.[1]

Be able to dynamically share and use the network resources to support more simultaneous users per cell.

Use scale-able channel bandwidths of 5–20 MHz, optionally up to 40 MHz.[1][5]

Have peak link spectral efficiency of 15-bit/s/Hz in the downlink, and 6.75-bit/s/Hz in the uplink (meaning that 1 Gbit/s in the downlink should be possible over less than 67 MHz bandwidth).

Implementations of Mobile WiMAX and first-release LTE are largely considered a stopgap solution that will offer a considerable boost until WiMAX 2 (based on the 802.16m spec) and LTE Advanced are deployed. The latter's standard versions were ratified in spring 2011, but are still far from being implemented.[4]

The first set of 3GPP requirements on LTE Advanced was approved in June 2008.[7] LTE Advanced was to be standardized in 2010 as part of Release 10 of the 3GPP specification. LTE Advanced will be based on the existing LTE specification Release 10 and will not be defined as a new specification series. A summary of the technologies that have been studied as the basis for LTE Advanced is included in a technical report.[8]

Some sources consider first-release LTE and Mobile WiMAX implementations as pre-4G or near-4G, as they do not fully comply with the planned requirements of 1 Gbit/s for stationary reception and 100 Mbit/s for mobile.

Confusion has been caused by some mobile carriers who have launched products advertised as 4G but which according to some sources are pre-4G versions, commonly referred to as '3.9G', which do not follow the ITU-R defined principles for 4G standards, but today can be called 4G according to ITU-R. A common argument for branding 3.9G systems as new-generation is that they use different frequency bands from 3G technologies ; that they are based on a new radio-interface paradigm ; and that the standards are not backwards compatible with 3G, whilst some of the standards are forwards compatible with IMT-2000 compliant versions of the same standards.

System standards

IMT-2000 compliant 4G standards

As of October 2010, ITU-R Working Party 5D approved two industry-developed technologies (LTE Advanced and WirelessMAN-Advanced)[9] for inclusion in the ITU’s International Mobile Telecommunications Advanced program (IMT-Advanced program), which is focused on global communication systems that will be available several years from now.

^"MetroPCS Launches First 4G LTE Services in the United States and Unveils World’s First Commercially Available 4G LTE Phone". MetroPCS IR. 21 September 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-09-24. Retrieved April 8, 2011.

References

See also

Pervasive networks are an amorphous and at present entirely hypothetical concept where the user can be simultaneously connected to several wireless access technologies and can seamlessly move between them (See vertical handoff, IEEE 802.21). These access technologies can be Wi-Fi, UMTS, EDGE, or any other future access technology. Included in this concept is also smart-radio (also known as cognitive radio) technology to efficiently manage spectrum use and transmission power as well as the use of mesh routing protocols to create a pervasive network.

Beyond 4G research

On 19 December 2013 Optus claims to set up the world's first TD-LTE Advanced carrier aggregation network. The company achieved a throughput of 520 Mbit/s, by combining four 20 MHz channels of the 2300 MHz spectrum band into 80 MHz.[256][257]

Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) will auction 700 MHz "digital dividend" and 2600 MHz spectrum for the provision of 4G FD-LTE services in April 2013. Telstra and Optus are expected to participate in both, while Vodafone has stated it will only participate in the 2600 MHz auction.

Vodafone Australia have indicated their roll out of 4G FD-LTE will use 20 MHz bandwidth and initially support Cat 3 devices at launch, then quickly move to support Cat 4 devices.

Optus have established a 4G (FD-LTE) network using 10 MHz (out of 15 MHz available) bandwidth in the 1800 MHz band and added the 2.3 GHz band for 4G TD-LTE after acquiring Vivid Wireless in 2012.[255]

Telstra will use a mixture of 10 MHz and 15 MHz bandwidth in the 1800 MHz band.

Telstra launched the country's first 4G network (FD-LTE) in September 2011 claiming "2–100 Mbps" speeds and announced an "aggressive" expansion of that network in 2012.[253][254]

Telstra announced on 15 February 2011, that it intends to upgrade its current Next G network to 4G with Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology in the central business districts of all Australian capital cities and selected regional centers by the end of 2011.[252]

Australia

2degrees launched their 4G (band 3) service on June 30, 2014 in parts of Auckland,[251] then extended coverage to Wellington on September 8, 2014, then Hamilton, Christchurch, Tauranga before Christmas, and Te Awamutu, Fielding, Levin and Dunedin in 2015.

The Vodafone, Spark and 2degrees 4G networks operate on 1800 MHz (Band 3). Vodafone and Spark have also deployed 4G on 700 MHz (APT Band 28) while 2degrees carries out a trial for this frequency in Auckland. As of 15 January 2014, Spark has 4G coverage in Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland, Whitianga and Whangamata.

Moana, a small village by Lake Brunner on the West Coast with only 250 people, got 4G coverage in May 2013. This was a test of rural broadband services in the 700 MHz range.[250] Vodafone went on to launch 4G in this frequency in Papakura on July 22, 2014.

In New Zealand, the first 4G network was introduced in parts of Auckland by Vodafone NZ on 28 February 2013 using the 1800 MHz frequency (Band 3). Vodafone has since expanded coverage to a total of 59 centers.[249]

New Zealand

Vodafone Fiji started category 3 LTE service (1800 MHz - Band 3) at the beginning of December 2013.[247][248]

Fiji

Oceania

International LTE Roaming: AT&T signed LTE roaming agreement with EE on December 17, 2013.[230]

The U.S. FCC is exploring the possibility of deployment and operation of a nationwide 4G public safety network which would allow first responders to seamlessly communicate between agencies and across geographies, regardless of devices. In June 2010 the FCC released a comprehensive white paper which indicates that the 10 MHz of dedicated spectrum currently allocated from the 1700 MHz spectrum for public safety will provide adequate capacity and performance necessary for normal communications as well as serious emergency situations.[246]

Sprint had deployed WiMAX technology which it has labeled 4G as of October 2008. It was the first US carrier to offer a WiMAX phone.[245]

Verizon Wireless has announced that it plans to augment its CDMA2000-based EV-DO 3G network in the United States with LTE, and is supposed to complete a rollout of 175 cities by the end of 2011, two thirds of the US population by mid-2012, and cover the existing 3G network by the end of 2013.[243]AT&T, along with Verizon Wireless, has chosen to migrate toward LTE from 2G/GSM and 3G/HSPA by 2011.[244]

Sprint offers a 3G/4G connection plan, currently available in select cities in the United States.[47] It delivers rates up to 10 Mbit/s. Sprint has also launched an LTE network in early 2012.[242]

On September 20, 2007, Verizon Wireless announced plans for a joint effort with the Vodafone Group to transition its networks to the 4G standard LTE. On December 9, 2008, Verizon Wireless announced their intentions to build and roll out an LTE network by the end of 2009. Since then, Verizon Wireless has said that they will start their roll out by the end of 2010.

United States

4G technology was introduced by Telcel on November 7, 2012.[238]Movistar launched its 4G network on September 22, 2014[239] and Nextel did on October 13, 2014.[240]

Mexico

On 27 April 2012, Brazil’s telecoms regulator Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações (Anatel) announced that the 6 host cities for the 2013 Confederations Cup to be held there will be the first to have their networks upgraded to 4G.[237]

Brazil

Telus and Bell Canada, the major Canadian cdmaOne and EV-DO carriers, have announced that they will be cooperating towards building a fourth generation (4G) LTE wireless broadband network in Canada. As a transitional measure, they are implementing 3G UMTS network that went live in November 2009.[235] Bell Canada claims that its HSPA+ (3G) network, that it calls 4G, covers 97% of the population as of December 2013.[236]

Canada

The Americas

On 12 June 2014, Vodafone announced LTE rollout for Belfast over the summer.[234]

At the beginning of May 2014, Vodafone added 4G roaming for their Red 4G customers in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain.[233]

International LTE Roaming: AT&T signed LTE roaming agreement with EE on 17 December 2013.[230] EE announced further LTE roaming agreements with Orange in France and Spain on March 2014. Customers of EE will access the LTE networks of both operators immediately. The company also announced in a press release that it will extend its 4G coverage across major roaming destination including the USA, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands by the Summer.[231][232]

LTE MVNE: On 1 April 2014, Plintron World's largest Multi-Country MVNE Enables Lycamobile to be in the 4G League in UK. Plintron has completed its LTE core interoperability with O2 UK, to enable 4G data services.

Both O2 and Vodafone launched their 4G networks on 29 August 2013.[226][227] The 3 network launched their 4G service in December 2013, initially it was only available to a selected few thousand customers in London preceding a nationwide rollout in 2014.[228][229]

On 9 July 2013, Ofcom announced that mobile network operators would be allowed to repurpose their existing 2G and 3G spectrum, specifically in the 900, 1,800 and 2,100 MHz bands, for 4G services.[225]

On 12 November 2012 Ofcom published final regulations and a timetable[221] for the 4G mobile spectrum auction. It also launched a new 4G consumer page,[222] providing information on the upcoming auction and the consumer benefits that new services will deliver. Ofcom auctioned off the UK-wide 4G spectrum previously used by the country's analogue television signals in the 800 MHz band as well as in the 2,600 MHz band.[223] On 20 February 2013, the winners of the 4G spectrum auction were announced by Ofcom.[224] The four major networks, EE, O2, Vodafone and 3, were awarded spectrum along with Niche Spectrum Ventures Ltd (a subsidiary of BT Group plc).

On 21 August 2012, the United Kingdom's regulator Ofcom allowed EE, the owner of the Orange and T-Mobile networks, to use its existing spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band to launch fourth-generation (4G) mobile services. As part of Ofcom's approval of the company's roll-out of 4G it was announced on 22 August that 3 had acquired part of EE's 1,800 MHz spectrum for part of their own 4G network.[217] The 4G service from EE was announced on 11 September 2012 and launched on 30 October initially in 11 cities.[218][219] The network aims to cover 70% of the UK by 2013 and 98% by 2014.[220]

In 2009 O2 (a subsidiary of Telefónica Europe) used Slough for testing the 4G network, with Huawei installing LTE technology in six masts across the town to allow testing of HD video conferencing and mobile PlayStation games.[215] On 29 February 2012, UK Broadband launched the first commercial 4G LTE service in the UK in the London Borough of Southwark.[216] In October 2012, MVNO, Abica Limited, announced they were to trial 4G LTE services for high speed M2M applications.

United Kingdom

On 10 June 2014, Swisscom added for the upcoming World Cup in Brazil new roaming partners among other countries (Belgium: Belgacom; Brazil: ClaroOi, Vivo; France: Orange; Italy: TIM; Spain: Orange). Further more Swisscom also announced more LTE Roaming in Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Netherland, Portugal and Romania.[208][212]

At the end of November 2013, Swisscom added new LTE Roaming partners in Asia (Japan: Softbank, Philippines: Globe Telecom, Singapore: M1), Europe (France: Bouygues Telecom) and the Middle East (Saudi Arabia: Mobily).[207][208]

On 19 November 2013, Orange and UPC Cablecom announced a new partnership. Over the next two years, UPC Cablecom will connect more than 1,000 4G masts with top bandwidths of between 1 and 10 Gbit/s.[205][206]

Since the beginning of July 2013 Swisscom prepaid customers are able to enter the LTE network. Maximum speed depends on the subscribed plan.[200]

Sunrise was the last operator in Switzerland who introduced LTE. Commercial service is available as of 19 June 2013. The smallest operator in Switzerland offers speed up to 100 Mbit/s. In 2013 Sunrise is using only the 1800 MHz frequency for LTE service. (E-UTRA Band 3) The operator will use other frequency bands (800 MHz and 2600 MHz - E-UTRA Bands 7 and 20) in the future as well.[203] Prepaid customers of Sunrise are able to use LTE with maximum network speed - even MVNO customer.[204]

International LTE Roaming: Swisscom is the first European operator which offers international LTE Roaming. Since the 21 of June 2013 customers of Swisscom are able to use LTE network of the South Korean operators SK Telecom and KT. According to Swisscom Canada (Rogers) and Hong Kong (SmarTone) are the next countries where customers of the former state-owned company will be able to use LTE roaming.[202]

Orange started LTE on 28 May 2013. The second largest operator was the first who introduced prepaid LTE in Switzerland. The following frequency range is in service for LTE. 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz. (E-UTRA Bands 20, 3 und 7) Orange LTE offers up to 100 Mbit/s. The company will upgrade the maximum speed up to 150 Mbit/s at the end of 2013.[201]

Swisscom announced on 29 November 2012, commercial service of its category 3 LTE network with maximum speed of 100 Mbit/s.[199] The following frequency range is in service for LTE. 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz. (E-UTRA Bands 20, 3 und 7) In May 2013 Swisscom upgraded its LTE network from category 3 to category 4. As of the upgrade the maximum speed has become 150 Mbit/s.[200]

Frequency

E-UTRA Band

Bandwidth

Type of LTE

Swisscom

Sunrise

Orange

800 MHz

XX (20)

2×30 MHz

FDD

2x10 MHz

2x10 MHz

2x10 MHz

900 MHz

VIII (8)

2×35 MHz

FDD

2x15 MHz

2x15 MHz

2x5 MHz

1800 MHz

III (3)

2×75 MHz

FDD

2x30 MHz

2x20 MHz

2x25 MHz

2100 MHz

I (1)

2×60 MHz

FDD

2x30 MHz

2x10 MHz

2x20 MHz

2600 MHz

VII (7)
XXXVIII (38)

2×70 MHz
1×50 MHz

FDD
TDD

2x20 MHz
1x45 MHz

2x25 MHz
-

2x20 MHz
-

After the multiband spectrum auction (06.02. - 22.02.2012[198]) the frequency allocation in Switzerland is as follows:

Since 30 May 2013, 4G is available in Spain thanks to Vodafone 4G. According to the company, services will use 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz spectrum and will offer download speeds of up to 150Mbit/s and upload speeds of 50Mbit/s.[189]

On May 13, Orange Espana announced it will launch its 4G network on 8 July, simultaneously in six of the country's largest cities: Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Malaga and Murcia. A further nine cities — Bilbao, Zaragoza, Alicante, Cordoba, A Coruña, Valladolid and Vigo on the mainland, Palma de Mallorca in the Balearic Islands and Las Palmas in the Canary Islands — will be live by the end of 2013.[188]

On May 9, 2013, Yoigo announced its service, which will use the 1800 MHz band and offer speeds up to 100Mbit/s, and will first be launched in Madrid on July 19.[187]

Spain

Frequency

E-UTRA Band

Bandwidth

Type of LTE

Si.Mobil

Telekom Slovenije

Tusmobil

800 MHz

XX (20)

2×30 MHz

FDD

2x10 MHz

2x10 MHz

2x10 MHz

900 MHz

VIII (8)

2×35 MHz

FDD

2x15 MHz

2x15 MHz

2x5 MHz

1800 MHz

III (3)

2×75 MHz

FDD

2x30 MHz

2x25 MHz

2x10 MHz

2100 MHz

XXXIV (34)

1×? MHz

TDD

2x20 MHz

-

-

2600 MHz

VII (7)
XXXVIII (38)

2×70 MHz
1×50 MHz

FDD
TDD

2x35 MHz
1x25 MHz

2x35 MHz
1x25 MHz

-
-

After the multiband spectrum auction in April 2014.[186]

Slovenia

Frequency

E-UTRA Band

Bandwidth

Type of LTE

Orange

Slovak Telekom

Telefónica Slovakia

SWAN

800 MHz

XX (20)

2×30 MHz

FDD

2x10 MHz

2x10 MHz

2x10 MHz

-

1800 MHz

III (3)

2×20.4 MHz

FDD

2x4.8 MHz

-

2x0.6 MHz

2x15 MHz

2600 MHz

VII (7)
XXXVIII (38)

2×70 MHz
1×50 MHz

FDD
TDD

2x30 MHz
-

2x40 MHz
1x50 MHz

-
-

-
-

After the multiband spectrum auction[185] the frequency allocation in Slovakia is as follows:

Slovakia

Telenor Serbia launched 4G service in March 2015.[181] 4G service is currently available in Belgrade, Niš, Novi Sad, Subotica, and the mountain resorts of Kopaonik and Zlatibor.[182] Telenor Serbia announced international 4G roaming. Since June 24, 2015 customers of Telenor Serbia are able to use 4G network of the Montenegrin operator Telenor Crna Gora.[183]

Serbia

TeliaSonera started deploying LTE (branded "4G") in Stockholm and Oslo November 2009 (as seen above), and in several Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish cities during 2010. In June 2010, Swedish television companies used 4G to broadcast live television from the Swedish Crown Princess’s wedding.[179]

Russian Federation

International LTE Roaming: Since mid-May 2014 Orange offers LTE Roaming service which is currently available in the networks of Orange in Moldova, Poland and Spain and will also be extended to other networks during 2014.[173]

The following figure shows the current allocation for this frequency band:[169]

Plus (Polkomtel) - CenterNet, Mobyland, Aero 2, Sferia

NetWorkS! - T-Mobile, Orange

P4 (PlayMobile)

In Poland, the construction of LTE networks cooperate:

On 31 August 2011, Plus (Polkomtel) launched 4G commercially in Poland. The download speed was up to 100 Mbit/s, while upload speed was up to 50 Mbit/s. On 25 October 2012, download speed was increased to 150 Mbit/s. It uses 1800 MHz spectrum belonging to CenterNet and Mobyland.

Norway

International LTE Roaming: On 16 February 2014 KPN announced LTE Roaming agreement with Orange in France and Telenor in Norway. Following by operators in the US, the UK, Russia, Japan, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Poland and Saudi Arabia later this month. Brazil and China are scheduled to be included in March, Germany, Hong Kong, Croatia and Slovenia will be added in April, and Denmark, Canada and Finland will be included in June.[164][165]

Frequency

E-UTRA Band

Bandwidth

Type of LTE

KPN

Vodafone

T-Mobile

Tele2

ZUM

800 MHz

XX (20)

2x30 MHz

FDD

2x10 MHz

2x10 MHz

2x10 MHz

900 MHz

VIII (8)

2x35 MHz

FDD

2x10 MHz

2x10 MHz

2x15 MHz

1800 MHz

III (3)

2x70 MHz

FDD

2x20 MHz

2x20 MHz

2x30 MHz

1900 MHz

XXXIII (33)

1x35 MHz

TDD

1x5 MHz

1x5.4 MHz

1x24.6 MHz

2100 MHz

I (1)

2x59,4 MHz

FDD

2x19.8 MHz

2x19.6 MHz

2x20 MHz

2600 MHz

VII (7)
XXXVIII (38)

2x65 MHz
2x65 MHz

FDD
TDD

2×10 MHz
1×30 MHz

2x10 MHz
-

2x5 MHz
1x25 MHz

2x20 MHz
1x5 MHz

2x20 MHz
-

After the multiband spectrum auction the frequency allocation in the Netherlands is as follows:[163]

Network operator ZUM's plans remain unknown; only a small 2.6 GHz LTE network would be required to meet regulatory requirements.

As of Q1 2014, KPN is the first network provider that has deployed a nationwide 4G network in the Netherlands.[161] Vodafone has announced it would reach nationwide coverage in 2014. As of Q1 2015, Vodafone is claiming national coverage. T-Mobile announced nationwide coverage by the end of 2015. Tele2, being a lower-budget provider, will probably never reach a nationwide coverage. Tele2 will stay a MVNO (i.e., Tele2 will buy network capacity) on the T-Mobile network for 2G/3G Services and a MVNO on the KPN network for 2G/3G Business Services (previously Versatel).[162]

Vodafone has launched the 4G network in August 2013,[159] while T-Mobile announced only a roll-out in Q4 of 2013.[160] Tele2 will launch their network probably in the same time as T-Mobile, because they are using site/antenna-sharing.

After the multiband spectrum auction in Q4-2012 KPN announced that the deployment of 4G services would start in February 2013 and that nationwide coverage will be available in Q1 2014.[158]

Netherlands

4G technology was introduced in Malta by Vodafone on 9 October 2013.[157]

Malta

T-Mobile introduced 4G in Macedonia at the beginning of December 2013.[155]

Republic of Macedonia

International LTE Roaming: On 24 June 2014 Orange announced LTE Roaming for the following countries from July 1, 2014: Canada, China, Germany, Greece, Italy, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the USA.[154]

Orange and Tango launched LTE in October 2012.[151]Post Telecom (formerly LuxGSM[152]) launched LTE in October 2013.[153] All operators are using the 1800 MHz frequency.

Luxembourg

TELE Greenland started LTE service (800 MHz - Band 20) at the beginning of December 2013.[150]

Greenland

International LTE Roaming: From 5 May 2014 customers of TIM are able to use 4G while roaming in Switzerland on Swisscom and from 14 May 2014 on Orange in Spain.[148] TIM added new roaming partners in Germany (Telekom) and Hong Kong (CSL) in June 2014.[149]

On November 15, 2012 the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) announced the results of its multi-band spectrum auction.[142] This auction awarded spectrum rights of use in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands in Ireland from 2013 to 2030. The winners of spectrum were Three Ireland, Meteor, O2 Ireland and Vodafone. All of the winning bidders in the auction have indicated that they intend to move rapidly to deploy advanced services.[143]

In May 2005, Digiweb, an Irish wired and wireless broadband company, announced that they had received a mobile communications license from the Irish telecoms regulator ComReg. This service will be issued the mobile code 088 in Ireland and will be used for the provision of 4G mobile communications.[140][141] Digiweb launched a mobile broadband network using FLASH-OFDM technology at 872 MHz.

Ireland

19 August 2014, Deutsche Telekom announced LTE Roaming for The Netherlands (KPN) and UK (EE).[139]

17 June 2014, Deutsche Telekom announced LTE Roaming for six European countries. (Belgium (Mobistar), France (Orange), Italy (TIM), Norway (Telenor), Poland (Orange) and Spain (Orange)) Followed by the UK. The company also plans further agreements with other operators.[138]

International LTE Roaming: 22 May 2014, Vodafone added LTE Roaming within the Vodafone Group in the following six European countries. Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and UK. Vodafone also plans to launch LTE Roaming in other countries and on other networks.[137]

10 March 2014, at the CeBIT in Hannover Deutsche Telekom announced the launch of LTE-A with 300 Mbit/s for Q3 in 2014.[136]

5 March 2014, E-Plus started commercial LTE service in Berlin, Nuremberg and Leipzig by using the 1800 MHz frequency.[135]

15 November 2013, Telefónica and Vodafone have announced that they are testing LTE-Advanced in the German cities of Munich and Dresden.[133]

5 September 2013, Deutsche Telekom announced LTE category 4 with download speed of 150 Mbit/s at the IFA. LTE category 4 or LTE+, so called by Deutsche Telekom, is available in areas which are covered by the 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz frequency.[132]

1 July 2011, o2 offers LTE on 800 MHz which is available in several rural communities, including Oberreichenbach in the Black Forest or Zscherben in Saxony-Anhalt.[127]

1 June 2011, Deutsche Telekom started LTE service on 1800 MHz in Cologne.[126]

5 April 2011, Deutsche Telekom launched LTE service on 800 MHz.[126]

1 December 2010, Vodafone started LTE by using 800 MHz frequency.[125]

30 August 2010, Deutsche Telekom trialed LTE by using the 800 MHz frequency.[124]

Frequency

E-UTRA Band

Bandwidth

Type of LTE

Telekom

Vodafone

Telefónica O2

E-Plus Gruppe

800 MHz

XX (20)

2×30 MHz

FDD

2x10 MHz

2x10 MHz

2x10 MHz

-

1800 MHz

III (3)

2×25 MHz

FDD

2x15 MHz

-

-

2x10 MHz

2600 MHz

VII (7)
XXXVIII (38)

2×70 MHz
1×50 MHz

FDD
TDD

2x20 MHz
1x5 MHz

2x20 MHz
1x25 MHz

2x20 MHz
1x10 MHz

2x10 MHz
1x10 MHz

After the multiband spectrum auction (12.04. - 20.05.2010[123]) the frequency allocation in Germany is as follows:

Germany

On 22 November 2012, Orange launched the first 4G business plan in Marseille, Lyon, Lille and Nantes. Then, on 29 November 2012, SFR launched 4G in Lyon, extending to Montpellier. It was the first 4G commercial launch in France.

France

On 23 March 2012, Hrvatski telekom launched the country's first commercial 4G network, with coverage in four major cities and plans to expand to other urban areas.[122]

Croatia

On 28 June 2011, Belgium's largest telecom operator Belgacom announced the roll out of the country's first 4G network.[120] On 3 July 2012 it confirmed the outroll in 5 major cities and announced the commercial launch to take place before the end of 2012.[121]

Belgium

On 6 May 2014, Austrian Media announced that Hutchison 3 is waiting for approval to refarm 1800 MHz frequency to go further with LTE deployment.[118]

On 11 March 2014, T-Mobile announced top LTE transmission speed raises to 150 Mbit/s.[117]

On 28 January 2014, A1 announced commercial service for LTE 800 MHz on more than 200 sites. Austrians largest mobile operator covers currently 45% of the population with LTE. The company plans to cover more than 50% of the population until the end of 2014.[115][116]

International LTE Roaming: 19. December, 2013, A1 Telekom Austria is the first Austrian operator which introduced LTE Roaming. The company signed a roaming agreement with Swisscom following by further countries (planned: Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, United Kingdom, United States) in 2014. If Customers of A1 Telekom Austria want use LTE abroad they need either a LTE package or one of their new A1 Go! contract plans, launched in December 2013.[114]

On 4 December 2013, according to A1 Telekom Austria Klosterneuburg is covered with LTE.[113]

At the end of November, 2013, Huchtison 3 and T-Mobile Austria intent to appeal auction results.[111][112]

Frequency

E-UTRA Band

Bandwidth

Type of LTE

A1 Telekom Austria

T-Mobile Austria

Hutchison 3

800 MHz

XX (20)

2×30 MHz

FDD

2x20 MHz

2x10 MHz

-

900 MHz

VIII (8)

2×35 MHz

FDD

2x15 MHz

2x15 MHz

2x5 MHz

1800 MHz

III (3)

2×75 MHz

FDD

2x35 MHz

2x20 MHz

2x20 MHz

On October 21, 2013, the multiband spectrum auction was completed. The following figure shows the current allocation for this frequency band:[110]

On 7 October 2013, T-Mobile Austria started LTE service for Smartphones. The company also announced plans for further LTE coverage. Until the end of 2013 parts of the city Bregenz, Klagenfurt, Salzburg and St. Pölten will be covered with LTE.[109]

In August, 2009 Huawei and T-Mobile introduced Europe's largest trial LTE network. Both companies set up 60 cells in Innsbruck which have been in service since July 2009.[98]

Austria

Europe

On 18 September 2013, the national telecommunication operator TM Cell launched 4G services in Turkmenistan.[97]

Turkmenistan

Operator

Frequency ( MHz)

Truemove-H

2100

DTAC

2100, 1800

Truemove-H has launched Thailand's first commercial 4G LTE service on 8 May 2013 using 2100 MHz Band I.[96]

Thailand National Broadcasting & Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has earmarked 1.8 GHz and 2.3 GHz spectrum for 4G services. The 1.8 GHz will be available for auction around the 4th quarter of 2014 when the license for GSM service on the spectrum will expire. The 2.3 GHz spectrum is currently held by TOT Corp, a state enterprise. Negotiation on refarming part of the band is ongoing.

Sri Lanka

On July 7, 2008, South Korea announced plans to spend 60 billion won, or US$58,000,000, on developing 4G and even 5G technologies, with the goal of having the highest mobile phone market share by 2012, and the hope of becoming an international standard.[91]

South Korea

Smart Communications was the first to roll out the 4G LTE in the country (Philippines). Over 900 sites served nationwide with partner establishments. Cherry Mobile was the first local brand to release LTE ready mobile phone in the Philippines with its Cherry Mobile W900 LTE and Ultra others are Cosmos Force, their recent Flagship Cosmos One Plus and the Newly Released Cosmos S2.

In September, Globe launched its 4G LTE network covering key commercial as well as residential areas in Makati, with more sites following shortly in Manila, Cebu, Davao, and other select regions. As more key activations are completed in the coming months, Globe subscribers will soon enjoy best-in-class mobile and broadband services across the Philippines.

As part of its massive network upgrade, Globe[90] has launched its 4th Generation Long-Term Evolution (4G LTE) network for mobile and broadband. To date, Globe has completed over 2,700 4G LTE network sites, with the number expected to rise to over 4000 by the end of 2012.

Philippines

On 23 April 2014, the government auctioned of 3G and 4G licenses to cellular service providers raising $1.182 billion in revenues. Zong became the country's first and only company to win a 4G license. Mobilink and Zong bid for the ‘superior’ 10 MHz band, while Telenor and Ufone preferred to bid on the cheaper 5 MHz band. Although Mobilink, having acquired the 10 MHz band, qualified for a 4G licence too, they opted not to go all the way.[89]

On July 7, 2013, the Government of Pakistan announced the auction of 3G/4G operators in Pakistan[88]

Pakistan

Saudi Arabia: In mid September 2011, Mobily, announced their 4G LTE networks to be ready after months of testing and evaluations.

Middle East

4G technology was introduced for the 1st time in Maldives by Ooredoo (formerly known as Wataniya) in April 2013. Currently serving over 33% of the population in Male, Hulhumale, Villingilli and Maafushi Island. Ooredoo operates its 4G network in both 700 MHz and 1800 MHz.

Maldives

By the end of 2012, the national telecommunication operator JSC Kazakhtelecom launched 4G services in both Astana and Almaty. It is expected that by the end of 2013 the service will be available across the whole country.

Kazakhstan

Since November 2013, PT Internux, with brand Bolt 4G, has commercialized LTE 4G service using TDD-LTE. Initially, Bolt 4G is only available on 2300 MHz covering Jakarta and the surrounding cities.[82]

During APEC meeting on October 1–8, 2013 in Bali, Telkomsel will conduct 4G LTE network trial. Telkomsel 4G LTE network will operate at 1800 MHz frequency. As part of the program it will sell "simPATI LTE Trial Edition" prepaid SIM card.[81]

Indonesia

Tikona Digital Networks holds broadband wireless access spectrum in the 2300 MHz band and is waiting for the appropriate time and maturity of the 4G ecosystem before making a foray into the space. Tikona holds 4G spectrum[79] licences in five circles in northwest India, covering Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh (East and West) and Himachal Pradesh.[80]

RIL is launching 4G services through its subsidiary, Jio Infocomm. RIL 4G services are currently available only in Jamnagar, where it is testing the new TD-LTE technology. Reliance's 4G rollout is planned to start in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata and expand to cover 700 cities, including 100 high-priority markets in 2015.[75]

Bharti Airtel launched 4G on mobiles in Bangalore, thus becoming the first in India to offer such a service on 14th Feb, 2014

Bharti Airtel launched India's first 4G service, using TD-LTE technology, in Kolkata on 10 April 2012.[73] On June 2013 prior to the official launch in Kolkata, a group consisting of China Mobile, Bharti Airtel and SoftBank Mobile came together, called Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI) in Barcelona, Spain and they signed the commitment towards TD-LTE standards for the Asian region. It must be noted that Bharti Airtel's 4G network does not support mainstream 4G phones such as Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Samsung Galaxy S4 and others.

India

Telecom giant Etisalat Afghanistan, the first telecom company to launch 3.75G services in Afghanistan on 19th Feb, 2013 announced the commencement of test of its Long-term Evolution (LTE) 4G mobile network.

Afghanistan

China

Asia

Just few days after the announcements, controversies circulated around the use of the term 4G to describe the offers.[72]

Algérie Télécom announced the official launch of its new fixed-wireless LTE high-speed Internet, Tuesday, April 29, 2014.[70] Although the company brands its offer as 4G, the network is available only through fixed home equipments, the mobile 4G is yet to be launched in late 2015.[71]

Algeria

On 12 March 2015, ANRT have reviewed all applications, and accorded 4G licenses to the main operators.

The official launch of 4G is due in early 2015.[69]

As of November 2014, Maroc Telecom, Meditel and Inwi have already realised tests over mobile 4G and succeed to reach debits up to 100Mbit/s.[68]

In 2009, Morocco launched Maroc Numeric 2013, an accelerated plan to position the country among the leading emerging countries in communications and technology.[66] Discussions about the introduction of 4G surfaced since 2012 by the National Telecom Regulatory Agency (ANRT) and the 3 major providers, but licenses and auctions were delayed until late 2013.[67]

Morocco

Kenya

As of 11 November 2014 Rwanda became the newest country to begin introducing 4G LTE services in its capital Kigali after months of testing.[64]

Rwanda

Africa

Deployment plans

In 2002, the strategic vision for 4G — which ITU designated as IMT Advanced— was laid out.

In 2005, OFDMA transmission technology is chosen as candidate for the HSOPA downlink, later renamed 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) air interface E-UTRA.

In November 2005, KT demonstrated mobile WiMAX service in Busan, South Korea.[31]

In April 2006, KT started the world's first commercial mobile WiMAX service in Seoul, South Korea.[32]

In mid-2006, Sprint announced that it would invest about US$5 billion in a WiMAX technology buildout over the next few years[33] ($5.85 billion in real terms[34]). Since that time Sprint has faced many setbacks that have resulted in steep quarterly losses. On 7 May 2008, Sprint, Imagine, Google, Intel, Comcast, Bright House, and Time Warner announced a pooling of an average of 120 MHz of spectrum; Sprint merged its Xohm WiMAX division with Clearwire to form a company which will take the name "Clear".

In February 2007, the Japanese companyNTT DoCoMo tested a 4G communication system prototype with 4×4 MIMO called VSF-OFCDM at 100 Mbit/s while moving, and 1 Gbit/s while stationary. NTT DoCoMo completed a trial in which they reached a maximum packet transmission rate of approximately 5 Gbit/s in the downlink with 12×12 MIMO using a 100 MHz frequency bandwidth while moving at 10 km/h,[35] and is planning on releasing the first commercial network in 2010.

In September 2007, NTT Docomo demonstrated e-UTRA data rates of 200 Mbit/s with power consumption below 100 mW during the test.[36]

In January 2008, a U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) spectrum auction for the 700 MHz former analog TV frequencies began. As a result, the biggest share of the spectrum went to Verizon Wireless and the next biggest to AT&T.[37] Both of these companies have stated their intention of supporting LTE.

On 15 February 2008, Skyworks Solutions released a front-end module for e-UTRAN.[39][40][41]

In November 2008, ITU-R established the detailed performance requirements of IMT-Advanced, by issuing a Circular Letter calling for candidate Radio Access Technologies (RATs) for IMT-Advanced.[42]

In April 2008, just after receiving the circular letter, the 3GPP organized a workshop on IMT-Advanced where it was decided that LTE Advanced, an evolution of current LTE standard, will meet or even exceed IMT-Advanced requirements following the ITU-R agenda.

In April 2008, LG and Nortel demonstrated e-UTRA data rates of 50 Mbit/s while travelling at 110 km/h.[43]

On 12 November 2008, HTC announced the first WiMAX-enabled mobile phone, the Max 4G[44]

In 15 December 2008, San Miguel Corporation, the largest food and beverage conglomerate in southeast Asia, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatar Telecom QSC (Qtel) to build wireless broadband and mobile communications projects in the Philippines. The joint-venture formed wi-tribe Philippines, which offers 4G in the country.[45] Around the same time Globe Telecom rolled out the first WiMAX service in the Philippines.

In December 2009, Sprint began advertising "4G" service in selected cities in the United States, despite average download speeds of only 3–6 Mbit/s with peak speeds of 10 Mbit/s (not available in all markets).[47]

On 14 December 2009, the first commercial LTE deployment was in the Scandinavian capitals Stockholm and Oslo by the Swedish-Finnish network operator TeliaSonera and its Norwegian brandname NetCom (Norway). TeliaSonera branded the network "4G". The modem devices on offer were manufactured by Samsung (dongle GT-B3710), and the network infrastructure created by Huawei (in Oslo) and Ericsson (in Stockholm). TeliaSonera plans to roll out nationwide LTE across Sweden, Norway and Finland.[48][49] TeliaSonera used spectral bandwidth of 10 MHz, and single-in-single-out, which should provide physical layer net bitrates of up to 50 Mbit/s downlink and 25 Mbit/s in the uplink. Introductory tests showed a TCPthroughput of 42.8 Mbit/s downlink and 5.3 Mbit/s uplink in Stockholm.[50]

On 25 February 2010, Estonia's EMT opened LTE "4G" network working in test regime.[51]

On 4 June 2010, Sprint released the first WiMAX smartphone in the US, the HTC Evo 4G.[52]

On March 17, 2011, the HTC Thunderbolt offered by Verizon in the U.S. was the second LTE smartphone to be sold commercially.[58][59]

On 31 January 2012, Thailand's AIS and its subsidiaries DPC under cooperation with CAT Telecom for 1800 MHz frequency band and TOT for 2300 MHz frequency band launched the first field trial LTE in Thailand with authorization from NBTC.[60]

On 10 October 2012, Vodacom (Vodafone South Africa) became the first operator in South Africa to launch a commercial LTE service.

In December 2012, Telcel launches in Mexico the 4G LTE network in 9 major cities

In Kazakhstan, 4G LTE was launched on December 26, 2012 in the entire territory in the frequency bands 1865–1885/1760–1780 MHz for the urban population and in 794-799/835-840 MHz for those sparsely populated

The 4G system was originally envisioned by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The DARPA selected the distributed architecture and end-to-end Internet protocol (IP), and believed at an early stage in peer-to-peer networking in which every mobile device would be both a transceiver and a router for other devices in the network, eliminating the spoke-and-hub weakness of 2G and 3G cellular systems.[30] Since the 2.5G GPRS system, cellular systems have provided dual infrastructures: packet switched nodes for data services, and circuit switched nodes for voice calls. In 4G systems, the circuit-switched infrastructure is abandoned and only a packet-switched network is provided, while 2.5G and 3G systems require both packet-switched and circuit-switched network nodes, i.e. two infrastructures in parallel. This means that in 4G, traditional voice calls are replaced by IP telephony.

History of 4G and pre-4G technologies

SDR is one form of open wireless architecture (OWA). Since 4G is a collection of wireless standards, the final form of a 4G device will constitute various standards. This can be efficiently realized using SDR technology, which is categorized to the area of the radio convergence.

One of the key technologies for 4G and beyond is called Open Wireless Architecture (OWA), supporting multiple wireless air interfaces in an open architecture platform.

Open-wireless Architecture and Software-defined radio (SDR)

The performance of radio communications depends on an antenna system, termed smart or intelligent antenna. Recently, multiple antenna technologies are emerging to achieve the goal of 4G systems such as high rate, high reliability, and long range communications. In the early 1990s, to cater for the growing data rate needs of data communication, many transmission schemes were proposed. One technology, spatial multiplexing, gained importance for its bandwidth conservation and power efficiency. Spatial multiplexing involves deploying multiple antennas at the transmitter and at the receiver. Independent streams can then be transmitted simultaneously from all the antennas. This technology, called MIMO (as a branch of intelligent antenna), multiplies the base data rate by (the smaller of) the number of transmit antennas or the number of receive antennas. Apart from this, the reliability in transmitting high speed data in the fading channel can be improved by using more antennas at the transmitter or at the receiver. This is called transmit or receive diversity. Both transmit/receive diversity and transmit spatial multiplexing are categorized into the space-time coding techniques, which does not necessarily require the channel knowledge at the transmitter. The other category is closed-loop multiple antenna technologies, which require channel knowledge at the transmitter.

Advanced antenna systems

As of June 2009, Verizon has posted specifications that require any 4G devices on its network to support IPv6.[29]

By the time that 4G was deployed, the process of IPv4 address exhaustion was expected to be in its final stages. Therefore, in the context of 4G, IPv6 is essential to support a large number of wireless-enabled devices. By increasing the number of IP addresses available, IPv6 removes the need for network address translation (NAT), a method of sharing a limited number of addresses among a larger group of devices, although NAT will still be required to communicate with devices that are on existing IPv4 networks.

Unlike 3G, which is based on two parallel infrastructures consisting of circuit switched and packet switched network nodes, 4G will be based on packet switching only. This will require low-latency data transmission.

The other important advantage of the above-mentioned access techniques is that they require less complexity for equalization at the receiver. This is an added advantage especially in the MIMO environments since the spatial multiplexing transmission of MIMO systems inherently require high complexity equalization at the receiver.

WiMax is using OFDMA in the downlink and in the uplink. For the LTE (telecommunication), OFDMA is used for the downlink; by contrast, Single-carrier FDMA is used for the uplink since OFDMA contributes more to the PAPR related issues and results in nonlinear operation of amplifiers. IFDMA provides less power fluctuation and thus requires energy-inefficient linear amplifiers. Similarly, MC-CDMA is in the proposal for the IEEE 802.20 standard. These access schemes offer the same efficiencies as older technologies like CDMA. Apart from this, scalability and higher data rates can be achieved.

Recently, new access schemes like Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), Single Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), Interleaved FDMA, and Multi-carrier CDMA (MC-CDMA) are gaining more importance for the next generation systems. These are based on efficient FFT algorithms and frequency domain equalization, resulting in a lower number of multiplications per second. They also make it possible to control the bandwidth and form the spectrum in a flexible way. However, they require advanced dynamic channel allocation and adaptive traffic scheduling.

Multiplexing and access schemes

As opposed to earlier generations, 4G systems do not support circuit switched telephony. IEEE 802.20, UMB and OFDM standards[28] lack soft-handover support, also known as cooperative relaying.

Physical layer transmission techniques are as follows:[27]

MIMO: To attain ultra high spectral efficiency by means of spatial processing including multi-antenna and multi-user MIMO

Frequency-domain-equalization, for example multi-carrier modulation (OFDM) in the downlink or single-carrier frequency-domain-equalization (SC-FDE) in the uplink: To exploit the frequency selective channel property without complex equalization

Frequency-domain statistical multiplexing, for example (OFDMA) or (single-carrier FDMA) (SC-FDMA, a.k.a. linearly precoded OFDMA, LP-OFDMA) in the uplink: Variable bit rate by assigning different sub-channels to different users based on the channel conditions

Principal technologies in all candidate systems

Notes: All speeds are theoretical maximums and will vary by a number of factors, including the use of external antennas, distance from the tower and the ground speed (e.g. communications on a train may be poorer than when standing still). Usually the bandwidth is shared between several terminals. The performance of each technology is determined by a number of constraints, including the spectral efficiency of the technology, the cell sizes used, and the amount of spectrum available. For more information, see Comparison of wireless data standards.

Rev B note: N is the number of 1.25 MHz carriers used. EV-DO is not designed for voice, and requires a fallback to 1xRTT when a voice call is placed or received.

The following table shows a comparison of the 4G candidate systems as well as other competing technologies.

Data rate comparison

The iBurst system (or HC-SDMA, High Capacity Spatial Division Multiple Access) was at an early stage considered to be a 4G predecessor. It was later further developed into the Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA) system, also known as IEEE 802.20.

iBurst and MBWA (IEEE 802.20) systems

At an early stage the Flash-OFDM system was expected to be further developed into a 4G standard.

Flash-OFDM

UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband) was the brand name for a discontinued 4G project within the 3GPP2 standardization group to improve the CDMA2000 mobile phone standard for next generation applications and requirements. In November 2008, Qualcomm, UMB's lead sponsor, announced it was ending development of the technology, favouring LTE instead.[24] The objective was to achieve data speeds over 275 Mbit/s downstream and over 75 Mbit/s upstream.

UMB (formerly EV-DO Rev. C)

Discontinued candidate systems

TD-LTE is not the first 4G wireless mobile broadband network data standard, but it is China's 4G standard that was amended and published by China's largest telecom operator - China Mobile. After a series of field trials, is expected to be released into the commercial phase in the next two years. Ulf Ewaldsson, Ericsson's vice president said: "the Chinese Ministry of Industry and China Mobile in the fourth quarter of this year will hold a large-scale field test, by then, Ericsson will help the hand." But viewing from the current development trend, whether this standard advocated by China Mobile will be widely recognized by the international market is still debatable.

IBM's data shows that 67% of the operators are considering LTE because this is the main source of their future market. The above news also confirms IBM's statement that while only 8% of the operators are considering the use of WiMAX, WiMAX can provide the fastest network transmission to its customers on the market and could challenge LTE.

Just as Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMAX are being vigorously promoted in the global telecommunications industry, the former (LTE) is also the most powerful 4G mobile communications leading technology and has quickly occupied the Chinese market. TD-LTE, one of the two variants of the LTE air interface technologies, is not yet mature, but many domestic and international wireless carriers are, one after the other turning to TD-LTE.

TD-LTE for China market

Data speeds of WiMAX

WiMAX

Peak download

128 Mbit/s

Peak upload

56 Mbit/s

In Russia, Belarus and Nicaragua WiMax broadband internet access is offered by a Russian company Scartel, and is also branded 4G, Yota.

Sprint has begun using Mobile WiMAX, as of 29 September 2008, branding it as a "4G" network even though the current version does not fulfil the IMT Advanced requirements on 4G systems.[23]

In June 2006, the world's first commercial mobile WiMAX service was opened by KT in Seoul, South Korea.[22]

Mobile WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e)

Data speeds of LTE

LTE

Peak download

100 Mbit/s

Peak upload

50 Mbit/s

In the United Kingdom, LTE services were launched by EE in October 2012,[20] and by O2 and Vodafone in August 2013.[21]

In South Korea, SK Telecom and LG U+ have enabled access to LTE service since 1 July 2011 for data devices, slated to go nationwide by 2012.[19] KT Telecom closed its 2G service by March 2012, and complete the nationwide LTE service in the same frequency around 1.8 GHz by June 2012.

T-Mobile Hungary launched a public beta test (called friendly user test) on 7 October 2011, and has offered commercial 4G LTE services since 1 January 2012.

The physical radio interface was at an early stage named High Speed OFDM Packet Access (HSOPA), now named Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA). The first LTE USB dongles do not support any other radio interface.

The pre-4G 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology is often branded "4G-LTE", but the first LTE release does not fully comply with the IMT-Advanced requirements. LTE has a theoretical net bit rate capacity of up to 100 Mbit/s in the downlink and 50 Mbit/s in the uplink if a 20 MHz channel is used — and more if multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), i.e. antenna arrays, are used.

3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE)

Forerunner versions

The IEEE 802.16m or WirelessMAN-Advanced evolution of 802.16e is under development, with the objective to fulfill the IMT-Advanced criteria of 1 Gbit/s for stationary reception and 100 Mbit/s for mobile reception.[12]

IEEE 802.16m or WirelessMAN-Advanced

Data speeds of LTE Advanced

LTE Advanced

Peak download

1 Gbit/s

Peak upload

500 Mbit/s

[11] LTE Advanced is essentially an enhancement to LTE. It is not a new technology, but rather an improvement on the existing LTE network. This upgrade path makes it more cost effective for vendors to offer LTE and then upgrade to LTE Advanced which is similar to the upgrade from WCDMA to HSPA. LTE and LTE Advanced will also make use of additional spectrums and multiplexing to allow it to achieve higher data speeds. Coordinated Multi-point Transmission will also allow more system capacity to help handle the enhanced data speeds. Release 10 of LTE is expected to achieve the IMT Advanced speeds. Release 8 currently supports up to 300 Mbit/s of download speeds which is still short of the IMT-Advanced standards.[10]

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